Spider News: Spider-Man in Vietnam

It’s been a bit of a chaotic week here in my life, where other obligations are essentially reducing my brain to mush. So I apologize for the lack of a comic remembrance this week. However, there’s been some buzz around the internet regarding a four-page Spider-Man fan comic by indie creator James Stokoe about Spider-Man in Vietnam that’s inspired me to put together a few paragraphs of opinion and reflection.

For starters, I think the artwork is absolutely fantastic, and while I’m not really familiar with Stokoe, this is a pretty bold concept to put together. This is apparently a work in progress, so I’ll be curious to see what, if anything, is added to these initial four pages.

But naturally, as a Spider-Man fan, I have some thoughts about the actual narrative here. Based on what we have, Peter/Spider-Man has enlisted to join the U.S. Army over in Vietnam and is writing Aunt May from abroad. Towards the end of the letter, he reveals his long-held secret, that he is Spider-Man, and he is actually fighting in the war as Spider-Man.

For someone who was born in the early 1980s, I’ve always had an unhealthy fascination with the Vietnam War. I guess, at the core, I’ve always been a pacifist and Vietnam has always been one of those perpetual hot-button issue for people from my parent’s generation. Heck, there are STILL major elections where Vietnam is an issue, both directly and indirectly. When I was in high school, I wrote papers exploring America’s justifications for sending U.S. troops over there, and as you might expect, most of those papers concluded that there was no real justification. My father thought otherwise. My mother agreed with me. The political wars continue.

So given my political background, this web comic has me pondering if the Spider-Man I know and love would actually willingly enlist to fight in Vietnam. Unlike other “tweener” superheroes like Wolverine and the Punisher, Spider-Man has always morally acted based on “good” intentions. While he’s a complex human being, he very rarely crosses into “shades of gray” territory as a hero. Instead, he holds on to the idealistic mantra, “with great power, comes great responsibility.”

But Vietnam was a shades of gray type of war. While Spider-Man might have initially felt a sense of responsibility to defend his country, I wonder if he would continue to adhere to that sense of obligation as the war degenerated into a moral mish-mash in the late 1960s and 1970s.

So I’m dying to see where Stokoe goes with this. In cases where Spider-Man’s idealism has been tested by supervillains like the Green Goblin and Carnage, Spidey has always ended up doing the “right” thing. So what happens if Spider-Man sees his platoon killing innocents while hunting the Vietcong? How will he react to fellow soldiers who are there against their will because of the draft? If Stokoe is going to add more to this comic, I think he needs to explore some of these moral predicaments. Because if not, he’s missing an opportunity to do a real interesting mediation on the ethics of the character in a way that have never really been explored before.

Mark Ginocchio is a professional writer and editor living in Brooklyn, NY. He's been collecting Amazing Spider-Man comic books since the late-1980s and launched Chasing Amazing in 2011 as a way to tell his story about Spider-Man, comics, collecting and everything else in-between. You also find Mark's writing at Comics Should Be Good at Comic Book Resources, WhatCulture.com and Longbox Graveyard. Follow him on Twitter for comic book chat @ChasingASMBlog.

Pete didn’t enlist out of patriotic duty. He went to Nam to get away. In one page you didn’t see he finds a dead pilot hanging in a tree that brings back memories of Gwen’s death on the bridge. Thats why he’s saying everything he left behind seemed so trivial now.
Reality check: How Pete got through the AFEES exam w/o his blood causing a major sensation is currently unknown. However, it is obvious he volunteered for Infantry as with his I.Q. he was qualified for a ton of non-combat arms jobs.
Pete is also carrying an M-79 4Omm Grenade Launcher, that we called “the chunker”, but no other weapons. Also noted, that when was on the light platform (I don’t know who used lights at night, unless you were at a major airbase or something) he had a camera with him. He was de-maging M-16 rounds appearantly because he was bored and letting them fall into his helmet below. There was also several cigerette butts on the platform and below by the helmet a bottle of Jonah Jameson Whiskey. Drinking on duty was a no-no, so I’m guessing Pete kept that for after hours. This aint the same Peter Parker you knew in New York. He’s been changed by more than just the war. And he’ll kill now if he has to, not just for him, but for his buddies too.
Judging from the reaction of the guys around him, they leave him alone because they both respect and fear him a little. Hes proved himself to them. According to the letter he had been there 6 months, so taking out for basic and AIT hes been in Nam about 3 or 4 months total so far. With a 365 day tour, he’s got a ways to go.
He also in the “cover” page is seen with a radio, all by himself. He’s probably being used as a scout. Being able to sense things and get up in the trees super fast is an added plus.
The bunker he crashes in seems to be all his. I can see why. He’s probably earned it. Yet he’s not asking anything special. Theres that sign of respect again. He probably built his ‘bunker hooch” all by himself.
This would made a great series, albeit a dark one. Petes in the Nam, to get away. What will he be like when he’s done?

About The Author

Mark Ginocchio is a professional writer and editor living in Brooklyn, NY. He's been collecting Amazing Spider-Man comic books since the late-1980s and launched Chasing Amazing in 2011 as a way to tell his story about Spider-Man, comics, collecting and everything else in-between.